Fingernails on a Chalkboard

A couple of the usual suspects, retiring Senator Joe Lieberman and former Secretary of State Colin Powell, (apparently Senators John McCain and John Kerry were unavailable for comment) bemoaned the self-esteem damaging effects of Washington's partisan politics.  Lieberman:

I think part of the reason why the American people have lost some of our characteristic confidence in recent years is not just the terrible recession, but the fact that, when they turned to their government in Washington, what they saw is people having partisan mud fights, not thinking about what they could do for them, the American people.

Is it just me, or does this kind of fatuous and condescending psycho-babble make you grind your teeth?